Comments
Tnuvu t1_j9vb0y4 wrote
This has soo much potential to be weaponized, think about it, you make a carrier immune and then ship him to infect everything he touches with a potentially deadly virus.
Can we please for the love of all things holy stop with the search for gain of function, we still haven't really got over the last mess someone created out of "coincidence"
Fake_William_Shatner t1_j9x3i6n wrote
This doesn’t look like gain of function but overall resistance. Surviving doesn’t make you more of a carrier but, yes, you still might be walking around if undiagnosed.
I think the countries that are able to weaponize a virus are few, and it would be very hard without being obvious. Infecting a population isn’t that hard, so no point in developing immune super carriers. Better to use propaganda to tell people to ignore their experts. Then you have the big problem; you can’t be sure how effective an attack is and if it is, that it won’t come back and bite you. And of course, the rest of the world would be very pissed.
Viruses are not good weapons and they would do more to make your enemy have the resolve to go to war than anything else.
rocky12riley t1_j9x5xn7 wrote
Yep, they are still fooling around with viruses.
Maverick_382023 t1_j9x77je wrote
Bats have a ability to rise their body temperature way higher than humans so that destroys any viruses.
FuturologyBot t1_j9y9284 wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/LiveScience_:
Submission Statement -
>For the first time, scientists generated stem cells from bats that can give rise to any type of cell found in the animals' fuzzy bodies. These cells, the researchers say, may help explain how bats can carry so many viruses that are lethal to humans but cause the flying mammals no harm.
>
>...the newly generated bat stem cells are very exciting in that they offer scientists new opportunities to study basic bat biology and the animals' odd relationship with viruses.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/11ats76/in_a_1st_scientists_grow_stem_cells_that_could/j9txow6/
LiveScience_ OP t1_j9txow6 wrote
Submission Statement -
>For the first time, scientists generated stem cells from bats that can give rise to any type of cell found in the animals' fuzzy bodies. These cells, the researchers say, may help explain how bats can carry so many viruses that are lethal to humans but cause the flying mammals no harm.
>
>...the newly generated bat stem cells are very exciting in that they offer scientists new opportunities to study basic bat biology and the animals' odd relationship with viruses.